The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Siobhan Coady, Minister of Natural Resources:

Making Connections at the World’s Largest Mining Convention and Trade Show

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in this Honourable House today to share the optimism and confidence about mining prospects in Newfoundland and Labrador, as demonstrated by the many people I met earlier in this month at PDAC - the annual Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada’s Mining Convention and Trade Show.

Mr. Speaker, mining is one of our leading industries and is a major contributor to our economy. With more than 7,000 people employed, and mineral shipments forecast to reach $2.9 billion in 2017, Newfoundland and Labrador is currently ranked 16th on the Fraser Institute’s 2016 International Mining Survey as one of the most attractive jurisdictions worldwide for investment attractiveness.

Mr. Speaker, our diversified minerals industry provides a wide variety of commodities to the world market. This is because, in Newfoundland and Labrador we have armed ourselves with public geoscience, nimble regulation and support for prospectors and junior mining companies through the Mineral Incentive Program, all in order to create the greatest opportunity for exploration and development. As committed in The Way Forward vision, we will build on these efforts to increase activity in the mining sector by engaging in targeted promotion and core digitization, which will support broader sharing of the province’s core sample information to companies worldwide.

In tandem with this year’s PDAC conference, the Provincial Government has released the most recent collection of reports from the Geological Survey which collects, interprets and disseminates geoscience data, with the goal of enhancing the province’s geoscience knowledge base. The data is used mainly by the mineral-resource industry to inform and enhance exploration and investment efforts. The most recent collection of reports can be found on our website.

Mr. Speaker, with over 900 exhibitors and 22,000 attendees from 125 countries, PDAC offered Newfoundland and Labrador companies the opportunity to make valuable connections. We shared the breadth and depth of our local expertise and demonstrated to the world that our mining industry and its people are skilled, experienced, and ready to do business – a goal, I am happy to report; we made very clear to industry at this year’s PDAC conference.